Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto
A/N: OMG this week was torture!... I seriously stayed up 'til 4 am each night working on my appellant court brief… ack… but at least the draft is done… I will give myself the rest of the week off (okay at least 2 days) to recuperate from the horribleness that is legal writing… and instead write something fun… because I need FUN to wash away the law… XP
THANKS FOR THE REVIEWS!! (Yay! made it to ONE HUNDRED REVIEWS!)
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LOVE?
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"Do you like her?"
Those four simple words had the strength to send Gaara tumbling to the ground at the sheer shock of their implication. It wasn't often that something could hit him with such force, but that innocuous question had caught the young Kazekage completely unprepared.
Gaara knew his brother enjoyed pestering him, the way only an older sibling could; but he had not been expecting the puppet-master to ask him such a thing. In fact, Gaara had not even once stopped to consider whether there had been any foundation to the gossip his brother had earlier informed the red-head about.
It was true, that he had been spending a lot of time with the bun-haired kunoichi; but Gaara would hardly classify their meetings as romantic encounters. Yes, he enjoyed being in the girl's company, and he found her to be quite pleasant; much more than most kunoichi he had known.
Gaara also considered her to be quite intriguing, as well as mildly amusing. She was warm and approachable; kind and soft of speech. He had found himself thinking of her demure nature and docile personality; docile, of course, in comparison to the other member on her team that Gaara knew all too well. But, he also knew her ferocious spirit; having bore witness to her impassioned spars with his elder sister on various occasions.
"You do." Kankuro's serious tone brought Gaara back from his inner musings.
"…" Gaara stared back at his older brother in a questioning mien; the brow of his forehead slightly risen, indicating his interest in the older boy's explanation.
"You like her." Kankuro stared bewildering at the questioning expression of his younger brother.
"I find her tolerable." Gaara plainly replied; attempting to give no indication of his earlier reflections.
"No." Kankuro shook his head. "It's more than that." He insisted. "You find ME tolerable. Temari's tolerable. Naruto and Lee are… well, respectable, which for some reason makes you want to tolerate them." Kankuro wavered off the topic; something for which Gaara was grateful and somewhat hopeful, would conclude their previous topic of conversation.
"…" The red-head picked up the scattered papers he had just dropped; attempting to hide the mounting confusion in his eyes.
"But she's different." Kankuro continued. "You've actually seemed eager to see her these last few days."
Gaara looked back at his brother in uncertainty; unsure of what the puppet-wielder was getting at.
"I've seen you watching the door." Kankuro smirked. "You wait for her every morning. You can't wait to see her."
Was that true? Had he been that transparent to his brother, even though he himself had failed to take notice?
"Temari's noticed to." Kankuro added; as if reading his younger brother's mind.
"…" Gaara quickly picked up his scattered files and moved back to the small desk in the corner of their shared room.
"Tell me." Kankuro called back the red-head's attention. "Describe how you feel."
"…" Gaara stared back at the older shinobi in baffled curiosity.
What did that mean?
Feel?
About what? Why?
"Words…" Kankuro spoke again. "Use words." He instructed.
Words…
"Uncertain." Gaara replied; hoping that would be word-enough for his older brother.
He had to admit, though, that was how he felt.
"More." Kankuro replied.
More?
Gaara was starting to grow irritated by the direction of the conversation. Just what exactly was his brother thinking?
"Irritated." Gaara replied.
"…" Kankuro continued staring at the red-head; seemingly unwilling to drop the matter; though why that was, Gaara couldn't comprehend.
"Perplexed." Gaara continued. "Aggravated."
"I don't mean right now." Kankuro blankly stared back at the sand-wielder. "I meant; tell me how you feel when you're with her."
There was no need for the puppet-wielder to explain who he was referring to, of course he meant Tenten. But why Kankuro felt the need to ask that sort of question only further confused the young Kazekage.
"Uncertain." Gaara repeated.
In part, it did ring true to what he had been feeling when he was the girl.
"Okay, okay." Kankuro waved his hands in the air; symbolic of his acceptance of defeat. "Tell me…" He paused; his face indicating to the red-head that he was thinking. "Describe her."
Describe?
That confused the Sand-leader even more than he already had been.
What was he getting at?
"Just do it!" Kankuro urged upon seeing Gaara's hesitance.
"She is…" Gaara thought about it.
What word could describe the bun-haired kunoichi?
Cheerful? 'Perhaps.' The red-head mused.
A myriad of other words came flooding at him; smart, funny, strong, confident, caring, happy…
"Kind." Gaara finally settled on one.
"Kind?" Kankuro repeated; a combination of disbelief and confusion shadowing his face. "You mean like… nice?" The puppet-master asked; still sounding unusually pensive.
"…" Gaara considered the question for a moment. "Yes, nice." He nodded.
"What about her is nice?" Kankuro asked.
Somehow, Gaara got the impression his brother's phrasing of the new question held more than one significance to it, but the red-head quickly disregarded it and began considering his reply.
He did consider the girl in question as being nice. She was friendly, but not overly or annoyingly so. She was considerate; having put up with his request to stay away from the village during the first few days they had been together, even though it seemed as if she would have preferred some sort of distraction from whatever had been plaguing her mind since the first day they began spending time together.
"…" Gaara furrowed his brow, forgetting for a moment about his brother's questioning.
What had been disturbing the kunoichi anyway? The first day he saw her, Gaara had noticed a sadness in her eyes; a hopeless longing in her soul that she seemed painfully distressed about. It was the same look he had seen the previous day in the eyes of that white-eyed shinobi; the one who was also on her team, along with Lee.
What was his name again?
.:..:..:..:..:.:..:..:..FLASHBACK..:..:..:..:..:..:..:..:..:.
"Ne-" The kunoichi's uncontrollable laughter prevented her from finishing what she was attempting to say. "Nej-" Gaara watched as his companion slowly approached her stoic teammate; gasping desperately for air.
Tenten continued laughing, as she walking up to her white-eyed shinobi. He and Lee had just arrived to join the rest of their friends as Gaara and Tenten walked around the festival grounds.
Gaara was not pleased; though why that was, escaped his understand. It bothered him that she had walked away to stand beside the oddly painted shinobi. But it bothered Gaara more that he didn't know why that was.
"Lee." Her laughter continued bellowing out, as she leaned into her silent teammate. "How…" She bent over panting for air; one hand pressed into her side, as the other rested defiantly on her teammates arm. "Oh, it's hurts." Tiny tears began welling at the corners of her tightly shut eyes. "Ne-"(1)
.:..:..:..:..:..:..:..END FLASHBACK.:..:..:..:..:..:..:..
"Neji." Gaara growled.
"Woah." Kankuro stared in stunned amazement at hearing his younger brother venomously spit out the name he'd just uttered.
"…" Gaara turned back to face his brother; all at once remembering that they had still been in the middle of speaking before the red-head had allowed his mind to wander momentarily.
"You're in love with her." Kankuro astoundedly stated. (2)
"Love?" Gaara repeated aloud; rapidly blinking his eyes in further confusion.
Love? Is that what that was?
Gaara couldn't see how his brother had come about that conclusion.
'Love?'
The kanji for the word love was permanently etched into his forehead; a reminder of his former hatred for the world. And yet, the word itself had never held any meaning for the red-head.
He had carved out the kanji as a reminder of his need to rely only on himself, and symbol of the fact that he was nothing more than a self-loving demon. At least… this was what he had believed at the time. In fact, it couldn't have been further from the truth. To him, and to others, the kanji had been meant as a symbol of strength and power, but in reality, only marked his perpetual loneliness.
Loneliness.
A feeling he knew too well.
Was that the look in her eyes? 'No, it was different.' Gaara noted.
Why was it he kept thinking about her? Could it be Love? Did he have feelings for her? Had he fallen in love with the bun-haired kunoichi?
"What is love?" Gaara's raspy voice softly spoke, setting forth the most confounding question, ever to be uttered by man. (3)
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TBC
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A/N: Sorry for the long wait… Had a tremendously horrible week… agh… and I just remembered it was my birthday week too… sucks… well it was a good week up until after my birthday (Birthday was great, btw thanks to all who sent me b-day wishes)… oh, but then it was ALL brief writing… torturous, torturous, torturous…
But this week I will definitely make up for my suffering by writing at least one more chapter (though I hope more)… and I'm going to start on the 10 for NejiTen challenge I put out last week (anyone interested in playing, check out my profile for details! Good luck to those of you who already said you'd try it! XD Can't wait to see what you all come up with)
Footnotes:
(1) Just so you know, the "oh it hurts" is referring to the fact that she's laughing so hard it hurts her sides.
(2) My philosophy to spelling… if I add an "LY" to the end of a word that's spelled correctly, it's still a word!... lol
(3) Dundundun… and the Pivotal question is FINALLY asked…
Hate my Cliff-hangers, but love Me… click that button and send your love in a review ;) thanks!